Tempt Me: A Small Town Billionaire Romance (The Everton Legacy Series Book 1) by Sophie Gardner

Author:Sophie Gardner [Gardner, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Vervain Publishing
Published: 2024-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CADEN

I get home and find Alistair lounging by the pool with an open bottle of wine and a half full glass on the table beside him.

“Early start?” I say. “It’s barely noon.”

Al shrugs. “I’m off today. Don’t be judgy.” He slides his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose and waggles his eyebrows at me. “Daisy says you spent the weekend with Isla Davenport. You know she’s engaged right? Quel scandale!”

“She had the flu, you dick,” I say, dropping into the lounge chair beside him. “It wasn’t anything scandalous. And I speak Spanish, not French.”

“Mom made us learn both, as I recall,” Alistair says. “Though I really only remember the swear words.” He makes a gesture up toward the house and a few moments later, one of the staff comes out with a wineglass for me.

“I’m good,” I say.

“Oh shut up and have a drink with me, Caden.” Alistair pours the wine and hands it to me, then tops up his own glass. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ve been thinking.”

I give him a side-eye. “That sounds ominous.”

He chuckles and takes a swig. “Tell me more about this sustainability stuff.”

“Seriously?”

“The company needs a rebrand,” Alistair admits. “We’re not even close to being back to where we were before Mom died. Dad likes to pretend everything is fine because he doesn’t want to talk about that. Ever. He’ll act like it’s to do with the pricing structure or getting a bad deal from suppliers but we all know that the winery needs a makeover. Environmentalism is popular apparently—I was doing some research this weekend.”

I can’t help being impressed. Alistair rolls his eyes at my expression.

“Don’t give me that look, I do like to work as much as I like to party.”

I raise my eyebrow.

“Okay maybe not as much, but…” He sighs and takes a long drink. “You know what would be even better—if you were the one leading the charge on this.”

“No,” I say quickly.

“Come on,” he says. “Everton needs its heir.”

I grab my own glass and drink half of it in one gulp. “Why don’t you be the heir?”

“Ha! Not a chance. Even if Dad did offer me the keys to the castle—which he would not because he’s stubborn and old-fashioned and you’re the first born and all that—I wouldn’t want it. I enjoy my current work-life balance,” he says, making a sweeping gesture out at the pool. “But you…you could really make some changes around here.”

I feel a slight lift in my chest and tamp it down quickly.

“I was talking to Dad about it,” Alistair begins, but I cut him off.

“Dad only wants me to come back so he can put me under his thumb again. Not happening. I’m going to make sure Mom’s case doesn’t get shoved in some basement, then I’m going back to Argentina.”

That feels especially certain after seeing Luke and Isla together. What a fucking punch to the gut.

“Fine, fine,” Alistair grumbles. “How goes the investigation?”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. I feel totally off track after a weekend spent with Isla.

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